Continental invests in French EasyMile

Autonomous shuttles (or robo-taxis) are set to play a key role in efficiently addressing the “first mile – last mile challenge”, enabling seamless mobility services for urban and suburban demographics. Widespread deployment of autonomous shuttle fleets is expected to alleviate inner city congestion by enabling door-to-door public transportation at scale. In addition to Continental’s equity investment in EasyMile, the companies plan to cooperate closely in the fields of environmental sensors, braking systems and driving safety technologies. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities. “We firmly believe that autonomous shuttles will be playing an important part in urban mobility. That’s why it’s important to incorporate the findings from current deployments into our development work, so that this new kind of individual mobility can be shaped. We are really looking forward to the collaboration with EasyMile,” said Frank Jourdan, Member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and Head of the Chassis & Safety Division during a location visit of the complete Executive Board of Continental in Toulouse, France. The expected growth of autonomous shuttles is promising and will have a considerable share of the total car sales in 2030. “We are delighted to partner with Continental, a recognized leader in automotive technology, and known for its focus on quality. This partnership will accelerate our development of ubiquitous autonomous transportation solutions for passengers and goods. Our EZ10 vehicle is already the most widely deployed driverless shuttle globally and is a demonstration of the robustness and performance of its unique technology. We look forward to integrating Continental’s latest components and technology into our solutions to further improve performance and optimize costs,” said Gilbert Gagnaire, CEO of EasyMile SAS. In addition to Continental’s equity investment in EasyMile, the companies plan to cooperate closely in the fields of environmental sensors, braking systems and driving safety technologies. ----- Image: Frank Jourdan (right), Member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and Head of the Chassis & Safety Division and Gilbert Gagnaire (left), CEO of EasyMile SAS during a location visit in Toulouse, France.